Ireland will not plan for no-deal border until it has to: minister

FILE PHOTO: A farmer checks the teeth of some Jacobs sheep at the annual Maam Cross fair in the Connemara region of Maam Cross in Galway, Ireland, October 30, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland’s position that it will not make plans for managing its border with Northern Ireland in a no-deal Brexit until such an outcome emerges remains unchanged after Britain outlined its plans, European Affairs Minister Helen McEntee said.

“We have always said what our plan is, and that if it came to the stage where a no-deal was the only likely outcome, then we would need to engage with our colleagues in the UK but also with the UK. Not after a no-deal, this is when it has became apparent that a no-deal is the only likely option,” McEntee told national broadcaster RTE.

The British province of Northern Ireland would temporarily not be subject to the no-deal tariff plan laid out by London on Wednesday. McEntee said she agreed with the head of the Irish Farmers’ Association that the tariffs flagged on beef and dairy products would be “absolutely disastrous” for Ireland’s agriculture sector.